There is a reason Roughnecks head coach Curt Malawsky refers to Washington Stealth netminder Tyler Richards as a world class goaltender – only twice have the Washington Stealth truly been out of the game defensively this year, and one of them came when Richards was not even playing.

“He always plays well against us and is a tough guy to beat, especially late in games,” Malawsky said during the weekly conference call. “That’s going to be a challenge in itself.”

Twice, 26-year-old has held opposing teams to single digits in goals, and owns the fourth best GAA at 10.68. He's one of the very, very few goaltenders who can say they've held John Grant Jr. goalless in a game. He’s also fourth in the NLL in saves at 254 and wins with three.

In the Roughnecks three victories over the Stealth last season, Richards played very well between the pipes, including one game where he made a career-high 59 saves.

THREE PLAYERS TO WATCH

1. Rhys Duch – Quite simply, he’s one of the best goal scorers in the NLL. He’s hit the 30-goal plateau in each of his four seasons, and is on pace to break his career high of 42 goals. His 22 snipes this year is good for second in the circuit.

2. Lewis Ratcliff – The former Roughnecks superstar loves nothing more than giving it to his old team. In three games last year, the leftie sniped five goals and 16 points in the three Roughnecks wins. This year, he's at 15 goals and 28 points, which is on pace for the worst year of his career.

3. Bob Snider – Geoff’s little brother is the only one in the NLL who can give the Roughnecks’ faceoff ace a run in the dot. While not as offensively gifted as his sibling, the Calgarian is second to Geoff in faceoffs won and loose balls in the NLL.